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woensdag 31 oktober 2012

In 1972 Roxy Music recorded its first album. To celebrate this a luxury box set was released containing all the original studio albums and some extra goodies. Erwin Zijleman takes us through Roxy Music's albums one by one. This week's turn is 1980's Flesh + blood.

dinsdag 30 oktober 2012

Another release by The Rolling Stones. The band is really digging into its archives in the past few years. New songs are hard to come by, but fans are treated to some real goodies. (Read an overview up to this spring here.) Except the BBC sessions which are still not released for whatever reason. I had a tape somewhere in the 80ties, with great blues covers, never on record, from a radio show. And after I wrote the concept text to this DVD review, the band has even performed live for the first time in five years,

Checkerboard Lounge was Buddy Guy's blues club in southside Chicago. The date is 22 November 1981 and the audience is in for a treat. Whether they know it or not. On stage we see Muddy Waters' band working up a steam with pianist Lovey Lee singing a blues classic to a pumping grove. Exactly the way one expects a good blues outfit to do. The music is propelled forward by the stompin' rhythm. Some nice and fine soloing going on. Then the old master is called on stage, straps on his guitar, sits down on a stool and shows us how its done. An older gentleman, gracefully and with a lot of pleasure playing the songs he's been playing for 30 years. In front of him is a long row of tables and chairs empty, which is strange as the club seems to be packed. And its small and tight. Centre spot reservations?

Muddy shows the audience how slide is played his style. Pure sex, there's no other word for it. We see a sixty six year old man explode into a violent attack of his guitar neck and snares. Screamin' and howlin' in stark contrast to his further, stylish appearance.

During 'Baby please don't go' people move into the empty spots and all of a sudden it's clear who the seats are reserved for. Hardly able to get to their seats the whole Stones entourage moves in, with the exception of the rhythm section. Getting their coats off is a major challenge. It's not for long or Mick Jagger is invited on stage, at first not understanding, but a verse later he's there, desperately trying to adapt his voice to the not fitting key the songs are played in. Keith Richards and Ronny Wood follow. One of Muddy's band's guitarists leaves the stage. Where Jagger usually has a whole arena to run around in, now he has the spot he's standing in, that's it. And it's clearly hard for him to perform in, restricted and confined. Richards is just doing the blues rounds, completely happy in the back ground at some stage playing closely to the rhythm section. The drummer is packed away so far behind everything that we can't even see him most of the time. When asked by Muddy to play a solo, Keith plays this dry sounding meticulously tight solo before stepping back again. Where a blues show man I had never heard of before, Lefty Dizz, tries to grab all the attention (and playing a little sloppy at times), Richards is in the back happy and content.

If there is one political message in this dvd it is in the blatant way Muddy and Mick propagate free marijuana smoking in 'Champagne & reefer'. Quite clear that Muddy does not mind changing the law on that. I may be mistaken but he may be holding one up too.

If the anecdote is true, we may never know, but when the Stones came to Chess to record an EP in 1964, there was a man painting the walls. Muddy Waters. Although it has been denied over and over recently, it may be true as blues was not popular in the U.S. in 1964. Bands like The Rolling Stones brought it back in that year. 17 Years later they paid tribute to one of the greatest electric bluesman and my all time favourite, McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy "Mississippi" Waters. He has the centre spot, he calls the shots, playing his music accompanied by four members of the at that time 'Greatest rock and roll band in the world'. Yes, four, as is explained below.

Checkerboard Lounge is a footnote in the Stones' history, probably a, late, highlight for Muddy and friends and great fun to watch how the Stones play with Muddy Waters and band, making music they started out with 20 years before. We see what it was, with the improvising, mistakes, one gets when everything is spontaneous or at least near so, but a monument it is, 31 years down the road. As a bonus we get to hear and see Ian Stewart play his favourite music as he replaces Lovey Lee on piano. Another treat as Stu was always in the back ground. Not so on Checkerboard lounge.

maandag 29 oktober 2012

At first listen of the title song opening Charmer I thought straight away: "Been there, done that". Boy, am I glad that I turned that notion down and gave Charmer a second, third, etc., chance. Aimee Mann's voice is so dominant to her sound, that I almost forgot to listen beyond her familiar introduction, like what happened to me with '@#%*! Smilers', her previous album.

Aimee Mann is around as recording artist for 30 years. Starting off in punk outfit The Young Snakes in Boston, to new wave band Til' Tuesday and solo since the early 1990s. As most people I was introduced to her through 'Magnolia', the epic movie, which featured several of her songs, followed by 'Bachelor No.2'. I really liked 'The forgotten arm' (2005) and lost track some what as 2008's '@#%*! Smilers' was just a little less to her previous effort and a long spell set in.

Back in 2012 'Charmer' grew upon me more and more. The lushly arranged album is everything the title promises, a total charmer. And unlike what she sings in the title song, there is absolutely no need to hate herself. This album gives her every right to be very proud of her latest effort. The songs were put on tape with a keen eye for detail and elements that it takes to make them more special.

Mann has a somewhat (now ageing) girlish voice that can slide off towards sounding as if she's bored. If her songs are not perfect this for me becomes a hindrance to continue listening. 'Crazy town' is a song that easily could have gone wrong, but doesn't. Also for this reason I'm happy to hear that she seems to play more with the ranges of her voice, like in 'Soon enough' where her voice goes deeper and higher, which sounds very appealing. The same in 'Living a lie', her duet with The Shins' James Mercer. Another pearl that Aimee Mann gave us as a gift.

Most songs on Charmer are melodically very strong. Not that they are necessarily up beat. Far from it. Most songs have a melancholy edge, a tristesse in them, which is a natural element of how Aimee Mann's voice sounds. In 'Gumby' this is off set and underscored by the tempo and musical embellishments at the same time. Which is a feat to achieve.

Taking it all in at this moment in time, I have the inclination to write here that in my opinion Charmer is Aimee Mann's best album to date. I like it as a whole, which was not the case with any previous of her albums. The variations in the vocal melodies, the arrangements of the songs, Aimee Mann's vocal presentation all stick out. At 52 she is at the top of her game, there's just no denying the fact. Charmer is an album which you may need to check out, not want to, NEED TO!

zaterdag 27 oktober 2012

A few years back I read the review of Alberta Cross' début album and had it jotted a mental note to have a listen to it. Somehow I never got around to it, until quite recently I listened to 'Broken side of time' for the first time and instantly liking it. To my pleasant surprise the band released a second album, Songs of patience, fairly soon after. I found myself playing it more and more and liking what I heard.

Alberta Cross, the band name is supposed to be an anagram, so if you feel like it, tell us what you've found, is a duo that started in London in the U.K., but migrated to Brooklyn, N.Y. Singer guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee is a Swede, Thomas Wolfers, the bass player comes from London. Others help them out to make a band sound. The music they make is the louder variation of pop music. Some songs could have been sung by Mika as well as Oasis. A song like 'Lay down' would work for both acts. It shows the uncanny pop feel Alberta Cross brings to its music and still stay credible, as 'Lay down' is an almost epic song.

Songs of patience is an apt title for the album. There is no haste, no aggression. A sort of hippyness without the psychedelia. As such memories of 2004's 'Self help serenade' of U.S. band Marjorie Fare come to mind, but also The Verve. The few photos I saw of the band portray two hippies and the album cover is as weird as covers can come. What it does not do however, is lose itself in psychedelia. Alberta Cross presents songs that are mostly in the mid tempo range, that are well crafted and worked out with an eye for details. If you listen attentively you can hear all sorts of ear candy pop up over the basis of the songs. When 'Magnolia' appears to become to one sided, a chorus comes in changing the mood of the song, making it interesting again. The band knows what it's doing. After the quiet 'Magnolia', the drums and bass kick in hard in 'Money for the weekend'. A very Britpop, almost punky kind of song with attitude to go. As not all songs are kept quiet until the end. 'Wait' explodes near the end in distorted guitars, lead lines and general hard playing. The variations give Songs of patience something attractive to listen to at every stop. 12 Songs long.

I'm filing Alberta Cross under Britpop I've decided. There are enough elements of Oasis, Supergrass, etc. to justify as much. Added is some inklings folk, Donovan style and keyboards that give a few songs a 60ties feel. Stakee's singing is Britpop with the long, broad sounding emphasis on the vowels. So with 'Baby' by Tribes (click here), I have found a second pleasant addition to the Britpop family this year. Songs of patience shows that there are paths left to explore for a genre that has was declared dead and buried for some years now.

donderdag 25 oktober 2012

In 1972 Roxy Music released its first album, now seen as one of the best debut albums ever. To celebrate this occasion all the band's albums were released in a cd box containing all studio albums. Erwin Zijlemans leads us through them one album at a time. This week his opinion on Manifesto, the 1979 come back, 6th studio album of the band.

dinsdag 23 oktober 2012

Dinosaur Jr. is around for many a year. When I was in college the band made its first albums and I missed them all in ignorant bliss. When other bands from around the scene in Boston broke in the early 90ties I noticed them. I think I have every single Buffalo Tom album e.g. Only with previous effort 'Farm' I picked up Dinosaur Jr. and liked what I heard. So here's my second ever review.

Dinosaur Jr. is a reference to dinosaur Sr., Neil Young's moniker after punk broke and he effortlessly became a part of the punk movement with a part of 'Rust never sleeps' and 'Live rust'. Jr. only listened to the harder parts of Sr. as I bet on sky is a rock album with gritty guitars and hooked rhythms. J. Mascis' voice goes well with the sound of the guitars. He does not appear to have loads of volume in his voice, but carries the melodies in his own characteristic way. The singing is basic, at best an invitation to step into the song. Not the big advertising billboard of the band. Still pleasant to listen to.

Most songs are stepping stones to let a guitar rip at some point. 'Watch the corner' has this great guitar solo that is released at the end of the song. The kind that stops right on time, because you want it to last for ever. The way the songs are arranged pose a problem for the stage. Dinosaur Jr. is a trio outfit, but has guitars for at least a double setting. Drummer Murph is a hard hitter, filling every nook an cranny of the sound with hard and fast pumping rhythms. This way he lays a foundation that the songs are built on. The same goes for Lou Barlow's bass. J. Mascis lays down a few rhythm tracks on guitar, loud and fast, over which he sings, solos and plays lead lines. A few songs have this 'Like a hurricane' keyboards floating all over the rest of the song. This way a massive wall of sound is created that makes up Dinosaur Jr.'s sound. This would be hard to bear for me if there weren't songs shining through this massive wall. In most cases they do. It's J. Mascis' voice that makes the difference. The somewhat drawling way of singing gives most songs the air they need. Not much else does.

The quality of the songs are at a seldom heard constant level. Some faster, some slower, but all songs have elements of interest that keep me interested and these great, howling solos where J. Mascis lets it all go out. If he isn't much of a talker (see Wikipedia), he speaks volumes through his guitar. Especially on the album ender 'See it on your side'. An ear-bleeder when played live, I bet on that.

Two songs on the album are by Lou Barlow. 'Rude' is a bit more up-beat country-ish rocker. That could have been on the repertoire of Dutch band Johan. I love the song. The double solo in the middle is great fun. 'Rude' is a very pleasant variation in Mascis's wall of gravely sounds. While Barlow's 'Recognition' is a QOTSA light, holds a surprise in the form of the acoustic break followed by another good solo and also provides I bet on sky with a bit more light.

I bet on sky is one of the better albums of 2012 so far. The heavy sound holds enough melodies, excitement and tension. A lot is going on and several solos are great. If you're into the heavier stuff I bet on sky is definitely an album to check out.

zaterdag 20 oktober 2012

It took some courage for me to start reviewing this album. Not having liked 'Veckatimest', despite all the clamour in the press, is one. The complex songs and weird rhythms just didn't land. Shield basically got the review: "Brilliant, but more of the same". That was two. And then I listened anyway and was intrigued, by the utterly brilliant, but hard to understand songs. That's three. What was I to write on the Shield? That's four.

This music will never endear itself to me. For this it is too complex, too far out, sometimes even too weird. Still, I was fascinated and slowly drawn into the songs, the structure, the weirdness and started to reckonise structures, melodies and beauty. Shields holds pure, but at times well hidden, beauty. Let me start there. Having listened to the album several times in different circumstances, I know that I truly like it and discover something new each time I put it on. My starting point for getting a grip on the music, is the vocals. Where in most songs the singing and the voice are the icing on the cake, with Grizzly Bear it seems the other way around. The melody of the vocals is the foundation which the rest is held up by. The point from which the great experiment starts. (And in a song like 'What's wrong' even that anchor is hoisted.) As if after a song is finished everything is stripped away except for the vocal melody and then built up again, layer by layer. A song construct.

Past the singing it's a free for all. Sound scapes of synthesizers, stretched guitar notes, small embellishments in the form of a piano note, the treatment instruments receive, intricately haunted string melodies, reluctant rhythms, a few horn notes. Everything's possible. Despite the fact that musically the bands are fairly unrelated, Shields reminds me most of Steely Dan. The way the songs seem to be constructions of music and the way complex songs appear totally fluent. Not an instrument nor note is used without an idea and clear effect behind it. Each note has an effect on the atmosphere of a song. In the final song, 'Sun in your eyes', even in the singing. The other influence is past 1965 The Beatles. The anything is possible vibe that surrounds Shields. The main differences being that Grizzly Bear is not jazz influenced (Steely Dan) and not trying to find the perfect pop song (The Beatles). For this the band is too left of centre. And some Arcade Fire, like in 'A simple answer' where it's the most obvious.

From Grizzly Bear's side of the universe the band does reach for perfection. Nothing but, I'd say. The desolation of 'Half gate' is impressive. From the cellos starting the song to the driving guitar and modestly pumping piano, to rolling drums the song is being pushed towards the (at first small) variations. Don't forget to notice the bass notes in the second verse. If anything we have an indie pearl here that appears to go on and on in ever changing instruments.

With only ten songs the album is over before I know it, having undergone an alternative rollercoaster of songs, moods and musical adventure. If anything, I may have to listen to 'Veckatimest' again and see if I had clay in my ears or something back in 2009. Shield is a treasure trove of musical adventure, that a lover of a little more alternative music could spend hours in, lost in discoveries and wonder to finally having to admit that Shields is a great pop album, well disguised, but pure pop. To my surprise, that's what I concluded. Brilliant, pure pop.

vrijdag 19 oktober 2012

It was somewhere in 1968 that session guitarist and The Yardbirds bass and guitar player Jimmy Page found himself more or less alone in The Yardbirds with a contractual tour to go on. So he hired some musicians to play. This went so well that they changed the band's name to The New Yardbirds toured the U.S. and decided to go on under the name Led Zeppelin. Recorded an album, released ´Good times bad times´ in the spring of 1969 as a single and the rest is history. It was one big rollercoaster of rockstardom till John Bonham´s body gave out. In 2007 the band did one last gig in London´s O2 dome with Jason Bonham as drummer. Yes, John´s son. The movie was exclusively premièred in 10 Dutch theatres at the same time: Wednesday 17 October 2012 at 21.00 hours. The main hall of this theatre was packed and WoNo Magazine was there.

'Celebration day' is the title of the show Led Zeppeling played on 10 December 2007 in a sold out O2 Arena in London and the title of the movie the band releases of the one-off event. The experience in the movie theater was near overwhelming. Larger than life the performance the band gave was captured on film and gloriously displayed. The performance itself only deserves the description near perfect. The band rocked hard. Fuelled by Jason Bonham's fantastic and extremely powerful drumming, the three original members showed the world once more and for a final time (never say never, but it certainly looks like it) that Led Zeppelin was and is one of the world's best rock outfits.

Led Zeppelin managed to stay away from a major pitfall: hiring all sorts of back ground singers, other musicians and/or bringing in guests. What you get to see is Led Zeppelin, three musicians and a singer. Just like of old John Paul Jones switches from bass to keyboards, Jimmy Page may use loads of effects and a octaver and like his dad Jason Bonham sings a little backing vocals. That's it. We saw Led Zeppelin as it is and was. Nothing else.

Led Zeppeling has at least four faces. 1. The rock fuelled blues monster (or blues filled rock monster). 2. The grove and riff driven rock monster. 3. An experimental folk band. 4. A classic hard rock band. Three of four aspects were incorporated in the show. Folk, except for the intro part of 'Stairway to heaven' wasn't present. The other three in abundance. It was hard sitting still in a theater seat, as there was enough to want to dance to. Stop starters like 'Nobody's fault but mine' or 'Trampled underfoot' just beg for moving. They groove so good.

Kicking off with first single 'Good times bad times' the setlist was near perfect. Near perfect as the leaving out of 'Immigrant song' and to a lesser degree 'Heartbreaker', is unforgivable. The very last show and no 'Immigrant song'? Sorry guys! For the rest I sat in awe. Robert Plant's voiced has aged, yes, but tremendously gracefully to a slightly deeper region. He led the band through all hits and major album tracks and left the centre stage to leave room for others. Jimmy Page showed what playing rock guitar is like. All the different styles, the bowing in 'Dazed and confused', the theramin combined with wah wah guitar sounds, he played them meticoulously. His face no longer lent itself for rock poses in 2007, his playing gave him every right to do so any way. Granddad giving the world a lesson.

Photo from screen, Wo.

If 'Celebration day' gave away one secret (in as far it ever was one if you listened to Led Zeppelin), it is how important John Paul Jones was to the band's sound. Next to being a great bass player, allowing Jimmy Page to take off half of the time, he gives colour to all the songs involving keyboards, playing bass pedals at the same time. It was a delight watching him play.

What is wrong between Page and Jones I don't know, but I seldom saw someone on stage so conciously ignoring his colleague from the first to the last second of the show. Turning his head away, turning his back, each time contact was sought by Jones. He was even excluded from the final embrace on stage. This is a stain to the movie and the show itself, but the only one. Director Dick Carruthers did a great job capturing a great rock band of the past on film in its final farewell in honour of Ahmet Ertegun, the famous Atlantic Records chief, who signed Led Zeppelin in 1969, who died in 2006.

Photo from screen, Wo.

My personal favourites came by. ´No quarter´, ´Since I been loving you´, ´Stairway´, ´Whole lotta love´ and a fantastic version of 'Kashmir'. It all ended with the song whose title says it all: ´Rock and roll´. Song by song one thing became clear to me. We were previewing a monument, a monument that people are able to watch for ever. One that will only let the legend grow. This is and was it. Led Zeppelin is huge and will remain so. The cap stone of the pyramid, sealing Led Zeppelin's career, is called ´Celebration day´. There's nothing left to add and they know it. This was it, folks. And those who happened to have been in the O2 Arena, well what can I say?

donderdag 18 oktober 2012

In 2012 it's 40 years ago that Roxy Music released its first album. To celebrate this a box set containing all studio albums and other goodies was released. In WoNo Magazine's blog the albums are held up to the light one by one. Regular contributor Erwin Zijleman does an excellent job here. As the only live album officially released during Roxy Music's recording career is not a part of the box set, Wo. is taking over review duties.So what is his opinion of the Viva! Roxy Music in 2012?

You can listen to 'Both ends burning', of course in the live version, here.

It's only 36 years ago that I bought this album at a sale with the money earned from my first real summer job. I knew four Roxy Music songs at the time. 'Love is the drug' had become a major hit in 1976, 'Virginia plane', 'Pyjamarama' as singles and I had 'Both ends burning' and perhaps 'Out of the blue' on a cassette tape. Was I in for a surprise! Long experimental songs like 'The bogus man' and 'In every dream homes a heartache'. I did not quite know what hit me, didn't have a notion what these songs were about and only had the vaguest idea of the tension that was built up in these songs. Through the years I liked the album better and better, but at a certain moment it disappeared in this huge stack of records, as old records tend to do. So, where am I with Viva! Roxy Music in 2012?

To be honest, not much has changed through the years. Viva! is a tremendously exiting live album, that gives a good impression of what it must have been like. There may be overdubs, but small mistakes in Brian Ferry's singing, the absolutely shrill harmonies in 'Both ends burning' can all be heard. So not everything was polished away in the recording studio. The songs I liked most, still stand out as fabulous rock songs. 'Out of the blue' and 'Both ends burning' rock so good. Especially the latter song. Andy McKay is soloing his heart out, Phil Manzanera plays a mean rhythm guitar and gets to solo as well, the bass runs I just love and Eddy Jobson lays down these synth carpets pasting the whole song over, while leaning back when the saxophone kicks in again. And let's not forget the great rhythm of the drums. This song must have been loads of fun to play.

The tension in a song like 'Chance meeting' is very well done. Slow, deliberate, almost mean. It makes the mind wonder what happens really. The let go comes when 'Both ends burning' kicks in (at least on record). 'If there is something' is another song that I've always liked.The very bluesy structure is loosely played out. Mazanera's guitar reminded me of some soloing on 'David live' another album I bought at the time. But there is another superstar on 'If there was something': Eddie Jobson, who replaced Brian Eno just two years before Viva! was recorded gets to play his electric violin. This gives the song a very distinct character.

'In every dream homes a heartache' is another song which did not really go well with me at this young age. When I hear it now, it is such an exiting song. The tension is almost tangible, at times it seems like it's going to snap. Relentless, with all the strange noises in the back ground, distorted echo's. The guitar and drums that kick in every four bars and let off again, like dog on a leash snapping and ceasing. The text goes totally weird of course, "My breath is inside you", go figure out where this leads to. And then it rips and rips good. This song is so well built and played out. Tingles down my spine!

Viva! ends with one of Roxy's singles, the up tempo 'Do the strand'. A great song to end a show with, I suppose. Fast, extremely danceable and still Roxy Music enough to be credible as an arty song.

Summing up, Viva! Roxy Music totally holds up all these years later. The album shows a band at the peak of its might, despite the fact that the core members abandoned the mother ship for circa four years. What changed for me is that I appreciate the album as a whole more. Including 'The bogus man', which is plainly a great track. If Viva! proves anything, it is what a mistake Brian Ferry made. 'Let's stick together' is great fun, but this is where he peeked as an artist and writer, stimulated by band members with loads of creativity themselves. Pure shame.

woensdag 17 oktober 2012

This spring I liked Spector's single 'Chevy thunder' so much that I wrote a blog post on the song. The contribution ended with the question whether the band would be a one-day-fly? Listening to Enjoy it while it lasts I'm feeling merrier by the song and decided to just do what Spector gives advice on here: enjoy it while it lasts.

This album sits chock-full with pop goodies layered with a certain gloom. Not so much from the music, but from the full voice of Fred MacPherson. His voice reminds me of early 80ties bands and Editors, but luckily for me musically the band leaves that doom and gloom end of the world as we know it far behind it. The title Enjoy it while it lasts may suggest that the end is nigh, but if it is, it is the dancing on a volcano variety. Spector excels in fun, danceable songs that invite the listener to move and sing at the same time. 'What you wanted' has these great fun call and respond singing, where the band shows it can find a melody where one's hidden in a song to most.

Spector can not be accused of originality. The band takes some very well trodden pop paths. The Kooks, Razorlight, Editors, some of the U.K's most popular bands in recent years come by, but I happen to think this band's better. They have the better melodies and seem happier with what they do. The biggest influence are The Killers, I'd say. And again I have already played this album more often that 'Battle born'. Like The Killers keyboards play an important role on Enjoy it while it lasts. What Spector adds is a splash of hardly disguised disco in several songs. The Petshop Boys as influence? This gives its songs this extra pop element which is missing in the songs of the bands mentioned above. And it's not as if the guitars don't play a role on Enjoy it while it lasts. They are all over the place in tight rhythm, delicious licks and great lead melodies.

And then this thought hit me. One of my absolute favourite tracks of the 00s is 'Mon amour' by Swedish band The Plan. Spector leaves out the total madness in the singer's voice, but has that pop feel down to perfection in 'Chevy thunder'. (The wordplay with 'Taking my own life" is well done textually btw.) But what about the rest of the album?

There are several songs that I just love on enjoy it while it lasts.The above mentioned 'Friday night ..' is a great popsong. (And video by the way. Decadence, bright colours, beautiful stills, very arty and still party? Yes, dear reader, it is.) Twenty nothing has a 'Candy' like drive and a great refrain and 'Upset boulevard' has the same energy a my favourite. 'No adventure' is this slow, delayed song, almost crawling into my ears, but with this exquisite melody and keys. I totally love it. "We are to old to die young", they sing. Welcome to the club, boys and enjoy the rest while it lasts! And then 'Celestine' still is coming up. What a chorus!

Most songs are well arranged, the harmonies are in all the right places, the fun is as high as on 'Employment' by Kaiser Chiefs. Do I need to go on? It looks like Enjoy it while it lasts is one of the most perfect pop albums of 2012, one that may well grow into one of my really, truly favourite albums. Well done, Spector! The title comes from a reference about piracy and illegal downloading: "Enjoy it while it lasts".

Of course 'Chevy thunder' is the best song on the album. Spector may never make a better song, in my opinion that is. What surprised me is that there are several songs that come close.

dinsdag 16 oktober 2012

Seattle based The Walkabouts went into something like hibernation in 2005, after the tour following their album 'Acetylene'. Singer and songwriter Chris Eckman lived in Slovenia's capitol Ljubljana while the rest of the band went back to Seattle. Eckman recorded many things, but nothing for his band. After 17 years of records the band seemed to die a silent death, just a memory of all these great albums in the nineties that were pounded out at tremendous speed. The fans were surprised by a great new album in 2011, 'Travels in the dustland' (read the review here). The band returned to great form here. 2012 came with another surprise, a tour and a dvd of the 2005 tour. Over three hours of film. A tour documentary, as non-descript as they usually come. All video's the band released in the first ten years of its recording career. Interviews with the members and a concert tour. Of course this is what it is all about when buying a dvd.

Through the years I've seen The Walkabouts many a time. There were so many great shows. One even with a small symphony orchestra on the 'Nightbirds' tour. A lot of nerves on stage that night in the Paradiso (and some very loud talking people, not willing to stop, while all this delicate music was being performed). On dvd we are presented with a show from Prague, in a small venue with the band on a surprisingly large stage for such a small venue. I suppose that this shows the tragic decline of the band's popularity in the 00s. From main stage in the club circuit, to the smaller venues. The big break did not come in the second half of the 90s, when it should have.

The Prague show presents The Walkabouts in true form. There is the light and the shade in the songs, in the tempo, in the approach to a song and in the solo performance: does Carla Torgerson or Chris Eckman sing? The beauty or the beast? The Walkabouts is a band that is able to play incredibly soft and delicate music and rock beyond full out at ear splitting levels. Both sides are presented in this Prague show. The show even ends with a Buzzcocks cover. 'Something's going wrong again' is truly punked. The documentary section shows bass player Michael Wells joining in the chorus at the end. Is it suggested that he picked the song? If so, in an indirect way. Covers are not new to the band. Remember 'Like a hurricane' any one? But then the band also released two albums filled with covers and interpretations.

One of the things that I find good to see, is the confidence of Terry Mueller. Where in the mid-90s from a distance she looked insecure and made small mistakes, in 2005 she is the band's drummer laying down the rhythms and leading the band through the songs. With the return of Michael Wells the band was back to the line-up that nearly brought them a break through. Glenn Slater plays these great keyboard parts that add to the songs' moods. Sometime like a footpath for the rest to walk on, at other times he's like the wind at storm's speed, taking over the song. Front persons Chris & Carla play guitar and share leads. Chris' solo are very Neil Young influenced, one note, within a chord. Very seldom like real solos, but fascinating and with loads of power. Just what a The Walkabouts song needs. Carla sometimes doesn't seem to pick strings at all, so intricate is her finger picking. Still we hear these beautiful melodic lines.

The dvd is very basic. Just cameras showing a band play. Nothing fancy, like The Walkabouts is. It is all about the songs. They tell the story, as every The Walkabouts song invariably does, like 'Jack Candy' about a drug dealer with a bad ending coming. The dvd does not add to the experience, but is invaluable to the true fan. We get to see the band up close, the interaction, while hearing this bunch of great songs. Life: The movie is a treat, that I truly enjoyed watching. The Walkabouts were one of my favourite if not the favourite band of the 90s. What this dvd shows is a confirmation of something that I nearly forgot in 00s, The Walkabouts is a very, very great band that should have been playing headlining festivals today, but isn't.

For people who haven't got acquanted with the band, go check them out. They are the best in folk rock. From the most delicate songs you've ever heard, to a ferocious beast and back on one album. This is what The Walkabouts offer you in a one-packet deal with great melodies. It doesn't come better people!, says,

maandag 15 oktober 2012

In our story on The Rolling Stones we speculated on what 2012 would bring (read here). It looks like all answers have been given.

50 years The Rolling Stones brought:

- pictures in front of the Marquee club, 50 years after the first gig;
- a fancy picture book so heavy that it kills;
- a greatest hits album is announced called 'Grrr!' to be released on 9-11-12;
- a gorilla with tongue and lips logo;
- a new single Called 'Doom and gloom' was released last Thursday;

- 18 October the documentary film 'Crossfire hurricane' will be released;
- and, yes, for those who like to travel click here before it's too late, to see this:

Photo from The Rolling Stones website

The Stones are to play two shows in London late November and two in Newark mid December.

So concluding. Again the masterminds of The Stones marketing team did a great job at working towards occasions, building it up step by step. Well done! And now get into the studio and start writing and recording new songs!!!!!!

zondag 14 oktober 2012

In just a few months, three EPs. Each released for free over a short period of time. That sounds like a marketing plan, to draw a lot of attention to this new band from The Netherlands. As far as I'm concerned they succeeded. Speaking with singer-songwriter Dennis Kolen recently, he said the following on Sunday Sun: "These guys are totally going to make it. They have the songs, the voices, the harmonies". There's only one thing for me to do here: totally agree with him.

III is more held back than I and II. The eclectic melodies and the sheer exuberance of singing is missing here. Despite the fact that the tempo is faster than almost all songs of the teeth gluing sweetness of Bread's songs, this is what I arrive at, U.S. balladry. The songs have a more serious undertone, that makes it harder to endear to at first listen. Putting it on again and again, proves that I'm going to appreciate III also. Quality is all over the place

'You light up the sky' starts with this honky tonk sounding piano (and ends with it). A bit corny start, but again Sunday Sun finds a way to give the song a twist, several even, in which the voices blend and melt together in a superb way.

It is in the sixth song that the EP really gets under way. A Roger McGuinn Rickenbacker sound and The Byrds singing that lifts 'Sing' off the ground. Seven miles high is my first guess. There are so many different sounding voices in this small, delicate song, that it is a treat to listen to.

Sometimes I need to be honest. III is not the best EP of the three. I and II contain more fun songs. Pure pop is dominant, the more serious songs are sort of shielded there. That makes it harder to get used to III than to its two predecessors. At the same time quality does not hide itself. Sunday Sun shows another side of itself and does this with a truck load of confidence. This band has everything going for itself. It's up to the world to discover true beauty, as that is the only appropriate words for Sunday Sun's music: "True beauty".

Wo.

P.S. And just after posting I realized something. Singing 'Ordinary love' I was reminded by another Dutch band that split up at the end of 2009, as I started humming 'Pergola'. Vacating the Dutch pop crown voluntary. "Johan is dead. Long live Sunday Sun"!

You can download III for free till Friday 26 October 2012 for free here.

After this date order it at the same link and buy I and II as well. And don't forget to check out the tour dates over the coming weeks on the same website.

zaterdag 13 oktober 2012

On Thursday 11 October 2012 it was a very special night in the Q-Bus in Leiden. Three singer-songwriters stepped up on stage to bring the unfortunately very small audience a night of beautiful, enraptured singing. L.A. based Shane Alexander, Dennis Kolen from Rotterdam and New Yorker Eugene Ruffolo blended their voices and guitars until they seemed one. Like a three headed vocal chord.

Dennis Kolen. Foto Wo.

Accompanied by modest playing by bass player Wietze Zeedijk and keyboard player Ferry Lagendijk the whole focus lay on harmonising. Listening to the songs of The Greater Good for the first time, only one reference popped up the whole time: Crosby, Stills & Nash. The uncanny way in which the voices resonated in fairly complex sounding songs.Just like CS&N's first album doesn't have songs that go down easy on first listen. This is what happened in the Q-Bus also. I was listening in awe at what was happening, as the singing looked so effortless.

Shane and Wietze, Foto Wo.

Further in to the performance, each singer took three leads thus dividing their contribution to the album, it was possible to make distinctions. Dennis Kolen puts the most effort into his performance, perhaps has to work hardest. Shane Alexander plays with his voice. In a higher register, but with depth also, warm and able to weave his voice in and out of the melody with ease. And it was just like Eugene Ruffolo wasn't there, but I'm sure he was the glue putting it all together, like David Crosby did. Also singing with ease, solo and in harmony and playing guitar in a very delicate way, almost as if he didn't touch the strings, but every time there was this intricate melody or notes played between the other two.

Eugene Ruffolo. Foto Wo.

Each had small stories to tell, also to mask the time it takes to switch to another exotic tuning. There was even a story by Shane Alexander on the Wikipedia site on guitar tunings. It all contributed to make the atmosphere more intimate. I perfectly understand that every artist works to have a packed venue, but as an audience it is a privilege to be so up close and enjoy the show in (almost) perfect silence and dedication.

Each of the three performers did a solo spot of two songs from their own albums. As I wrote on Dennis and Shane in WoNo Magazine before, I will focus on Eugene Ruffolo. The modesty with which he presented himself struck me most, while at the same time singing two beautiful, delicate songs with total conviction and confidence made me very much interested to hear more from him in the future. Ruffolo's voice is very pleasant, while at the same time his fingers play bass, melody and lead at the same time accompanying his voice. A true singer-songwriter.

Thr Greater Good. Foto Wo.

The three came back for an encore of Neil Young's 'Tell me why', song 10 on the album and the great sing along 'I shall be released'. And yes, we got to sing along and my higher harmony fitted quiet nicely in the back ground, thank you. With one more song the evening came to an end. There will be more on Dennis Kolen soon on this blog and be on the look out for Shane Alexander's new album early in 2013 (with a beautiful cover!, which I got to see). Let's hope that The Greater Good will get a follow up in the next few years as this is about as good as it gets where singing is concerned. True beauty!